Road to 1800 day 4
Trying to hit 1800 within 100 days!Day 4
Still JM. Still writing 1800 characters on a quest to hit 1800 now within 96 days. I hope this doesn’t become too much of a chess blog. Like I hope I don’t ever discuss Queen’s Gambit theory or whatever. Playing a game now and I feel like I’m playing like a maestro! I have pressure on my opponent and when faced with a choice between sacrificing and backing off, I chose to jam the position and pushed a pawn and now I think my Uzebeki opponent might be in over their head! I feel like I’m on another level. (The computer would later tell me I was playing at a level of strength around 1800.) If I played this well every time I think I’d honestly be 2000. But they find a move! I’m very impressed with their defending and my attack is precarious, three pieces under attack. Well. I think I’m still winning but I swear I felt 10 feet tall. It’s humbling. All credit, they defended so well! Still got a fight. He scrapped but I got to a winning endgame and I’m feeling increasingly confident in my ability to handle those.
Today is a good day! I beat an 1800 rated player!! For the first time in ever. I walked into a firestorm and thought I was finished but found a few nice defensive moves and my opponent, down four minutes in a winning position, resigned! I was completely lost. Cooked. It’s the old line that the hardest fight is the fight that’s harder than you expected it to be. They were flustered. We take those! Such a confidence booster. Like, yes they shouldn’t have resigned but I got them to the point where they felt frustrated enough to quit.
Short day of chess. Productive day of chess. In theory now I only need to net 19 games. No studying, only two games. Two wins and now I can sleep. It’s like with the news, when things are good, there’s less to say. I played in a way that makes me happy. When I lose I can dissect it and laugh about how the computer thinks I’m an idiot or whatever but when I win, it’s like “Sweet! I won.” This is exactly why the news is sad. I am part of the problem for the five people who accidentally click on this wherever I post it. Me, The New York Times, Gothamchess and Fox News. Anyway, goodnight!
We’ve got a long way to go and a short time to get there!
Godspeed--JM
